


Baby, this rain changes everything

by happygiraffe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Corgi BB-8, Fluff and Mush, Found Family, Happy Ending, Jess is Poe's roommate, Luke Leia Han Chewie and Maz will be making brief cameos eventually, M/M, MeetCute, Modern AU, Rey and Rose are Finn's best friends, Slow Burn, Stormpilot, Tooth Rotting Fluff, background Jess/Kare, ex-military librarian Poe, tw for mentions of mental illness, tw for mentions of past child abuse, veterinary student Finn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-16 17:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18696112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happygiraffe/pseuds/happygiraffe
Summary: Poe Dameron’s having a hard time readjusting to civilian life, but rescuing the injured stray dog behind his apartment building is the first thing that makes him feel like his old self again. He’s just not sure why the veterinarian’s cute intern left his personal cell number on the back of his receipt. Stormpilot Modern AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is!! My first foray into the sequel trilogy for SWBB 2019!!
> 
> This was wonderful fun, and I had the pleasure of working with @reena_jenkins (https://reena-jenkins.tumblr.com/) who made a lovely banner and two fanmixes which you absolutely have to check out!

  
banner by the wonderful reena_jenkins, be sure to find her work at bottom of the page under 'inspired by' and leave her some kudos!

 

 _ **we stood a** **t your front door  
**_ _ **you looked at me and said "baby, this rain changes everything,"**_  
 _ **and my heart ran away from me**_  
_\--I'm With You, Vance Joy_[[X]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fze0XQ6oUI)

 

Poe watched as General Organa pinched the bridge of her nose and waved him inside, gesturing towards the chair in front of her desk. “Sit, Dameron.”

Poe was shaking but trying to hide it as he sat.

“We’ve spoken about this before,” Leia reminded him gently. “I understand your position, believe me. But this is not within my—”

“Please,” the young pilot’s voice nearly cracked. He knew he’d been acting out, and that he’d been waking his wingmates up with his screams at night. Everything had been going to hell, then that night when the alarms had gone off and startled him awake he had lost his grip on reality. He’d woken up in medical, cuffed to the bed. “I can’t go back.”

“If the doc says you’re unfit, I have no authority to dispute that. And frankly even if I could, I’m not sure it would be the right decision.”

“I have nothing to go back to,” Poe confessed, knuckles white against the arms of the chair.

“Like I said, Dameron, I understand.” The words weren’t hollow coming from her. Leia had always believed in transparency with the men and women under her; they all knew that their General’s hometown had been bombed into rubble in another war—or maybe it was the same war that they were fighting all over again. She understood perfectly.

“I can put you in contact with a number of resources back home.”

Poe didn’t trust himself to speak.

Leia’s voice suddenly turned sharper. “You’re in no condition to fly, you’re lucky no one’s been hurt yet. You’re _broken_.”

 _No,_ thought Poe. _She never said that!_

“You’re weak,” Jess and Snap’s voices came from behind. When did they get here? “We all think so. No one else can get a night’s rest with you around.”

 _No!_ thought Poe more forcefully. _This isn’t right!_ He was starting to wake up.

 

The dream left Poe hollow and vaguely nauseous. It wasn’t the same as the shaky adrenaline hangover of waking up from a night terror, but this deflated feeling was almost worse. He sat up, groaning at the ache in his neck as he realized it was only 9 PM, and he had passed out on the couch.

“Alright there?” asked Jess as Poe padded barefoot into the kitchen, rubbing his forehead. She was facing away from him, washing her dinner dishes at the sink.

Poe shrugged, pouring himself a glass of water. There was no reason to be embarrassed, not with Jess. They had both overheard each other at their worst too many times to count. The walls of their subsidized apartment were paper-thin.

The weather report droned in the background, speculating about the snowstorm on the horizon.

“I feel bad for that dog,” Poe mused.

“We can’t bring her in,” said Jess firmly. “You know we’re not allowed.”

“I know,” said Poe defensively. “I called dog control again. They said they could come Monday, but…I made them promise to squeeze her in tomorrow afternoon.”

Jess sighed. “Didn’t they already come?”

“They tried, but they couldn’t catch her. I just don’t want her out there when this ice storm hits.”

Jess almost asked him why he cared so much, but she bit her tongue. Poe with a mission was an unstoppable force—and in all honesty, that was a side of him that didn’t come out much these days.

Moving in together was the only thing that had made the past year bearable. Poe and Jess had left the Air Force within six months of one another, and if nothing else it was paying most of their rent, as well as for Poe’s psychotherapy and the treatments for Jess’s fucked-up knee.

Poe waited until Jess had gone to bed before he gathered up an armful of old towels and the package of sliced turkey from the fridge. He took the stairs down to the back door and slipped outside to the darkened parking lot.

By the flickering security light, Poe could see the dog lying in her favorite spot, a patch of frozen grass in front of the dumpster. When she saw Poe, she put her ears back and whined.

“Hey, buddy,” Poe hummed. He stepped closer. She stood up—it was a little dog, stumpy little legs. She held one of her back feet a few centimeters from the ground, obviously unable to put any weight on it.

“Do you belong to somebody? Bet they’re worried about you,” Poe murmured as he tossed a slice of turkey into the space between them. She considered it, but kept her eyes trained on him, unblinking.

Poe pulled his mom’s jacket tighter around himself as a gust of wind blew his hair into his eyes. He wished he could bring the dog in from the unforgiving cold. “Tomorrow, okay? If animal control doesn’t show up, I’ll wrangle you myself. I promise I won’t let you freeze.”

The dog continued to eye him warily she slunk forward to grab the treat. Prize acquired, she scooted under the dumpster, dragging her bad leg along.

Poe saw her glowing eyes watching him arrange the towels and another slice of turkey into a sort of nest between the dumpster and the fence. At least she would have somewhere to sleep, he thought.

The unease leftover from Poe’s nightmare still twisted at his stomach as he slipped back inside.

Poe reminded himself of what Leia had actually said before he left her office in tears. She had dropped her professional tone for a brief moment, laid a hand on top of his and used his given name.

_“Go home, Poe, and get better. You have every single one of us in your corner.”_

So far, he didn’t feel much better.

…

Wind howled and rattled the windows all night, but when Poe awoke to dawn light creeping over his room, it was quiet.

In fact, a peaceful silence enveloped everything. Poe sighed contentedly as he rolled over under his cocoon of blankets and watched the fuzzy shadows of snowflakes drifting across the window shades.

_What…what?_

Poe threw off all the covers in a single heave and started shoving his work boots onto his feet. The storm wasn’t supposed to come today! He should have still had time!

He then tried to stuff his feet into a pair of sweatpants and quickly realized he would have to take the boots off again and start over. Hastily-dressed, he grabbed his coat from its hook and ran out the door, still fumbling his arms into the sleeves as he rushed down the stairs and through the lobby.

The world outside was in near total white-out. The streets had been swept once or twice with a plow but the sidewalks were still buried. Poe took off at a sprint, crunching dense, wet snow under the soles of his boots.

Jess awoke nearly an hour later, and slowly came to the same conclusion in much the same way. Cursing under her breath, she crawled out from beneath the regretfully warm covers and shuffled to Poe’s bedroom. She was annoyed but definitely not surprised to see the door flung open and clothes strewn across the floor.

Cursing some more, Jess bundled up in her own winter gear and marched outside, ready to drag Poe in by the hood of his parka if she had to. To her dismay, the parking lot was devoid of both humans and canines. Poe had dug around the crates that were the dog’s usual hiding place and excavated part of the underside of the dumpster, but it appeared he had given up and moved on.

A sloppy trail of bootprints tracked across the lot. They were being filled in by a fresh layer of the heavy snowfall, but Jess could still follow the trail. She made her way up the street. Several other nooks and alleys yielded similar results.

Jess was out of breath and leaning heavily on her cane by the time she caught sight of him.

“Poe!”

Poe was crouching in the snow across the road and didn’t seem to hear.

“Hey!” she called as she crossed the street and approached. Poe ignored her again. He was shoulder-deep in a row of bushes.

Although her first instinct was to smack him, Jess put a hand around Poe’s forearm and pulled him to his feet.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

Jesus Christ, he was a mess, with wet curls falling in his face. His nose and cheeks were angrily red, almost purple, and his lips trembled as he spoke.

“J-J-Jess?”

“Yeah. I’m here to take you home, buddy.”

“I th-th-thought we had more time to s-save her.”

“Poe, this is insanity,” Jess insisted, brushing snowflakes out of her hair. “Literally. This—” She gestured around at the numerous ditches Poe had dug around the shrubs “—is the work of an insane person.” As she spoke, Poe visibly deflated with a look like a child whose toy had been ripped out of his hands.

“Hey, don’t start blubbering on me,” said Jess in a softer tone. “Your little friend’s got a nice, furry coat, unlike you.”

Poe had just a pajama shirt and sweatpants on under his parka, and his gloves were soaked through with snowmelt. Jess was honestly concerned he was going to lose a finger or something.

“Come on,” she took him by the gloved hand and tried to lead him away from the bushes. “This isn’t safe, and she could be anywhere. I’m sorry.”

Poe acquiesced, and guilt surged up in the pit of Jess’s stomach. She’d been expecting a long, drawn-out debate. She wondered if the old Poe would’ve put up more of a fight.

“I’m sure she’s found a nice, warm garage to curl up in,” Jess offered, glancing over her shoulder as they walked. God, she hoped Poe’s eyes were just watering from the cold wind whipping snow into their faces.

She didn’t comment when Poe stopped to check under the dumpster one last time. He was definitely crying. She didn’t know when or why he had become so invested in this, but Poe’s emotions were unpredictable.

Jess punched the combination into the keypad on the back door, but the stupid thing wouldn’t open. The buttons were stuck frozen. _Cheap ass building_. Cursing under her breath, Jess tried again.

Poe was walking up behind her when the light on the keypad flashed red again. Jess stamped her foot with a huff as she pulled off her glove.

When she stamped her foot again, a warning growl replied.

Both of their heads snapped towards the source of the sound. The dog was pressed up as close as she could to the other side of the concrete stoop, hunkered down as if trying to make herself small. The awning above the door was offering her some protection from the snow.

Poe lit up. “Quick—” he shouted as he came around the dog’s other side. Jess threw the door open and allowed Poe to chase her inside.

The poor thing was deceptively quick, injured paw and all. Poe corralled her into the stairwell and tried to scoop her up, but she zipped up the steps with eyes so wide he could see the whites of them. Jess split off to take the elevator to the fifth level and head them off.

“We are so getting evicted,” she muttered to herself as she waited for the elevator doors to open. She opened the apartment door and waited, blocking the hallway. When the dog came careening down the hall, Poe hot on her heels, Jess shepherded them both inside and closed the door before the neighbors could come looking to investigate the ruckus.

Poe was panting and laughing breathlessly as he sank down into a kitchen chair.

“Where’d she go?”

He shook his head, unable to answer. There were pawprints dripping with mud and rock salt all across the floors, and some inexplicably a few inches up the kitchen wall. The trail led into Poe’s room, where the dog had disappeared under his bed.

“Well, you’re safe now, puppy,” Jess said dryly, lifting the duvet to glance beneath the bed. Poe had caught his breath and come to crouch down beside her.

The dog let out two low, resounding barks from somewhere deep in its throat.

“Little dog, big barks,” Poe laughed.

“Poe look, she’s shaking.”

They let the duvet fall down to cover the dog’s hiding spot again, and retreated to the kitchen to give her some space.

“What’s that face for?” Poe asked Jess.

“Because you haven’t stopped grinning since we found her, you big dork.” She shoved him gently.

…

The next morning, they called the veterinarian and got an appointment. When Jess had to leave for work, Poe had not yet managed to extract the dog from underneath his bed.

“Big barks is right,” Jess smirked as she heard a loud yap from where she stood in the doorway. “Don’t get bit, please.”

“Shut up and hand me another slice.”

Slice after slice of turkey disappeared under the bed as Poe coaxed his new friend.

“I have to go, buddy,” said Jess at length. “Good luck with Big Barks.”

Later, Poe wouldn’t be able to say how he got the animal out from under the bed and into a cardboard box without coming into bodily harm.

He found his way to the vet’s office without any trouble. When the girl at the front desk asked him the dog’s name, he almost blurted out ‘We’ve been calling her Big Barks’, but he suddenly noticed a lady across the waiting area with two pink cat carriers giving him a funny look. He realized how ridiculous he looked carrying the cardboard box with air holes he had made by stabbing it with scissors. Poe stuttered, trying to think of a normal-sounding name.

“B.B.,” he finally decided. No need for anyone to know what it stood for.

A young man in deep blue scrubs led them into a tiny room with a metal table. A growl was heard from inside the box when Poe set it down.

“It’s your first time here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” said Poe. “Are you Dr. Kanata?”

The man looked up sharply and hesitated for a moment. “Yes I am,” he said, oddly proud. “That’s me. You can call me Finn, though, if you want to.” He cleared his throat.

“Hi Finn, I’m Poe.”

“Pleasure,” Finn said, with a little bit of a lopsided smile. “Um, let’s have a look at B.B., then.”

Poe opened up the box and the low growl became a high-pitched whine. Unfazed, Finn scooped her up and set her down on the table.

Poe really, really wished he had tried to wash some of the dried mud and snowmelt out of the dog’s fur. She looked like a mongrel off the street—which she was, but for some reason Poe couldn’t stop thinking that this was making him look bad. He stared at the little pawprints embroidered on the breast pocket of Finn’s scrubs and tried to swallow the feeling.

B.B. yapped angrily at both of them and tried to squirm off the table, but Finn held her securely by the scruff and took a look at her injury.

“So what happened here?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

Finn gave him a questioning glance. “How long ago was it?”

“I’m not sure of that either.”

Finn’s frown deepened into something resembling suspicion. “This isn’t a fresh injury. When did you notice her walking abnormally?”

“She’s not mine,” Poe suddenly realized he needed to clarify. “She’s been hanging around my apartment for a few days. I brought her inside yesterday because of the storm.”

Finn’s shoulders relaxed, and he smiled. Poe was startled by his smile. “Okay, that makes more sense,” said Finn. He looked at the makeshift cardboard carrier on the floor with fresh amusement. “A lot more sense. Well, in that case I’ll have them check her for a microchip when they take her back.”

Finn laid his hand gently around the injured paw, assessing the swelling, and the dog made a pained noise. “I know, baby,” Finn murmured, and Poe’s heart jumped.

B.B. continued to tremble. Finn kept a reassuring hand on her back as he checked her over, stroking gently and tutting softly to reassure her.

 _He’s so kind and sweet with her_ , Poe thought. Then he scolded himself, _Yeah, and it’s his job, Dameron. It’s not even appropriate for you to be so charmed._

“Poe?”

“Hmm? “ Poe realized he hadn’t been listening. “Oh, sorry, what?” _Nice job, now he thinks you’re an idiot._

“I’m taking Bee to get some x-rays now.”

Poe made a sound of agreement, watching Finn scoop the unhappy pup up under his arm like he’d done it a million times. The two of them disappeared through the swinging door to the back room. A cacophony of barking and meowing was heard, then muffled again as the door swung shut behind him, leaving Poe alone with his panic.

He was really, really lucky that Jess wasn’t here to see him floundering over a hot guy—a hot guy with an adorable smile. And he was _kind_ , and good with _animals_ …

And who knew if he was even single—he hadn’t worn a ring, but a guy like that, no way he hadn’t found somebody. And Poe couldn’t ask, the poor guy was working at his job right now. That wasn’t cool. Poe told himself to pull it together.

He was still arguing with his thoughts when Finn returned, empty-handed.

“She’s not chipped, Poe,” he said bracingly. “I talked to Dr. Kanata—Maz—the other Dr. Kanata. We were wondering…”

Poe leaned forward a bit.

“It’s just, our kennel is over capacity at the moment. There’s a two-week holding period for found dogs before we can turn them over to the SPCA, and we were wondering if you would be willing to foster her while we search for the owner.”

“Absolutely,” said Poe, after spending precisely zero seconds considering how he was going to hide the dog from the landlord, or god forbid what Jess was going to say.

“It will only be for two weeks. We can provide all the supplies you’ll need.”

“Of course, that’s no problem.”

Finn’s face split into a relieved smile, and Poe’s insides were gripped with elation again.

It sunk in at some point when a young tech with a blonde updo was helping him carry a sack of dog food and various other items to his car. Maybe this was a mistake. He didn’t know the first thing about dogs, and as Jess frequently reminded him, they could get in serious trouble if they were caught keeping pets in the apartment.

Yup, definitely a mistake. B.B. was returned to him, along with a detailed packet of instructions on caring for the dog’s wound. The elder Dr. Kanata, a small bespectacled woman, flipped through the packet, explaining each page to him while he tried to figure out a way to interrupt and explain that actually, so sorry, he couldn’t do this after all.

A hand touched Poe’s shoulder briefly as he leaned over the counter. Poe nearly jumped, quickly realizing that it was Finn.

“Take this too. It’s the prescription for her meds,” he said, placing a long, narrow paper on top of the packet. “Thank you again for doing this, Poe,” Finn beamed, catching his eye. “Bee is a lucky pup, and if she’s got a family out there looking for her, they’re going to be really grateful too.”

Poe just nodded mutely. He finished checking out, tucked the papers under his arm, and picked up B.B.’s borrowed crate to bring her back to the car.

He set the paperwork down on the roof to lift the crate into the backseat. B.B. was wearing a wide Elizabethan cone, presumably to stop her from gnawing at her injury, and looked rather put out about it. “I know, how’d we get in this mess, right?” Poe agreed.

A gust of wind rustled the papers on top of the car, and Poe hastily snatched them up. As he tried to shuffle them back into some kind of order, he happened to glance over the prescription.

One side detailed the date and dosage instructions for B.B.’s antibiotic. On the flip side was scrawled, “Finn Kanata” and a phone number.


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2 **

“Wait—you told him you were a vet?” Rose laughed as she rode around a corner on a tall, gangly young horse. Finn cringed.

“It just came out! He asked, and I just…panicked,” said Finn, leaning with his elbows on the metal gate, watching Rose ride circles around the arena. “One more semester and it’ll be true anyways.”

Rose laughed again. “So, was he cute?”

“He seemed sweet. It wasn’t even his dog, he just found her and decided to bring her in.”

“Yes, but was he _cute_? Details, Finn!”

“It doesn’t _matter,_ because I panicked and lied to him!” Finn tried to laugh it off. “So where’s this limp you were talking about? He looks sound to me.”

Rose turned the horse down the center of the arena and asked for a trot. The gelding threw his head down a few times and hopped with his back feet, but when Rose insisted, he trotted off with no apparent difficulty.

“I can’t tell if he’s doing it because he’s a stupid baby, or if something’s wrong,” Rose remarked.

“How long has he been off the racetrack?”

“Two months. We just got him yesterday. Obviously still has some hang-ups.”

“You could ask Maz to come look at him, but I think she’ll just tell you to stick to light exercise and keep an eye on it.”

Rose brought the horse to a halt and dismounted. “Okay. Want to have a look at Rogue’s foot before you go?”

_ Call Sign Rogue _ had started out as an off-track thoroughbred like the others, but she was Rose’s personal pet. Most of the horses at the rescue were rehabilitated, trained up and sold, but Rogue had accidentally become a permanent resident.

The chestnut mare nickered at him as he opened her stall door. Finn was of the opinion that thoroughbreds were Nightmare Ostrich Horses, too tall and gawky for comfort and too strong for their own good. But Rogue was in her late twenties and fairly unintimidating. Once she determined that he didn’t have any treats, she stood politely and lifted her foot so that Finn could check the abscess that he had drained last week.

“Looks much better now.”

“I thought so too. Thanks so much, Finn,” said Rose, leaning over the stall door. “One more thing?”

“Sure, what?” he asked, setting the horse’s foot down.

“Tell me if that boy was cute!”

“Stop it!” Finn’s face started to feel hot as he laughed. “He was _so_ cute, Rose. Like, it’s _embarrassing_ how cute he was.”

“That’s so exciting! So when are you going to see him again?”

“He’s got an appointment next week.”

“Is it during your shift?”

Finn looked sideways as a smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, it is,” he said conspiratorially.

Rose feigned a silent cheer. “I bet Connie saw you two flirting like idiots and scheduled it that way on purpose.”

“What? No!” Finn exclaimed. “We weren’t being obvious.”

Rose pulled the barn door shut and gave him a skeptical look. “I didn’t say it was obvious to _you_ , I said it was probably obvious to everyone _else_ , Finn.”

…

“But what does it _mean_?” Poe asked for the umpteenth time, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. After he picked Jess up from work, she had been so engrossed by his story about the veterinarian’s phone number that she hadn’t even found the time yet to complain that he’d brought home a dog.

“I think it means he wants you to call him, dumbass,” Jess said helpfully.

Poe pulled up to a red light and glanced sideways at her. She was lounging in the passenger seat with a look of bemusement on her face.

“But what if he only meant it professionally? Like if I had any questions about taking care of Bee?”

“Don’t you think he would’ve given you the office phone, then?”

“I don’t know!” Poe huffed. They turned into the parking lot.

“We’re going to have to be stealth,” Jess said, changing the subject as they got out of the car. When they were sure that no one else was around, Poe grabbed the dog crate out of the backseat and hurried in through the door and to the elevator.

Thankfully the hallway was clear, and they had a straight shot from the elevator to the apartment.

“I didn’t think you’d take this so well,” Poe confessed, smirking as he set B.B. down.

“Well, so what if we get evicted? No biggie,” Jess drawled, crouching down to peer into the crate. “Because you, little puppy, are going to get Poe laid!”

“Jess!” Poe yelped. She laughed at his mortified expression.

“What? It’ll be good for you.”

They opened the crate and B.B. hobbled out, ears pinned and still dragging the paw which was now bandaged and splinted. She darted into Poe’s bedroom and tried to retreat under his bed again, but the cone wouldn’t fit. Instead she crouched down in the space between the bed and the nightstand and laid down with a sad little whine.

Poe left her in peace and shuffled back to the living room, sinking down onto the sofa. He pulled out the packet of paperwork from the vet again, and stared at the phone number scrawled on the back. He rubbed his forehead. _Oh for fuck’s sake._

Poe hadn’t dated since…well, he had to think about it. All long time. Before the Air Force, definitely. College? No. Probably high school – ugh. That made him seem so lame.

And even though things weren’t exactly great right now, Poe was finally starting to feel like everything was at least _stable._ He was working enough to pay his share of the rent, and the only person he had to interact with regularly was Jess, who had seen all his weird, dysfunctional habits already and didn’t care. He was comfortable here. He hadn’t put much thought into what would come next.

But…when he thought about seeing Finn again, he found a stupid grin sneaking across his face.

He would call tomorrow, he decided, with some sort of question about taking care of Bee, and they would see where the conversation lead. Yeah, that sounded reasonable.

B.B. made herself scarce until the evening, when Poe sat down and unpacked the supplies from the vet. There was a bag of food, but no bowls to put it in – Poe supposed he would have to pick up some tomorrow. For now, he took two cereal bowls out of the cabinet, filling one with water and one with food.

He set both bowls down in front of the dog’s hiding spot, clucking with his tongue. Bee shifted one ear back and stared him down.

Poe scooted backwards a few inches and sat on his calves. Bee’s nose twitched. She could smell what was in the bowl.

Just as she had when he brought her treats in the parking lot, she maintained eye contact as she approached the food. The edge of her cone knocked against the side of the bowl and sent it sliding out of her reach. She approached again, and the same thing happened.

“Here,” said Poe, reaching for the bowl, but B.B. shied away from his hand and backed up against the wall. The sound of the cone hitting the wall startled her, and sent her running headlong into the doorframe, knocking the bowl over and sending pieces of food skittering across the floor. She didn’t seem to have a good sense of how big the cone was or how to maneuver with it. She began to sprint, careening through the apartment, back and forth, banging into walls. Jess covered her mouth with her hand.

After trying and failing to hide beneath the TV cabinet in the living room, B.B. flopped onto her side and pawed at the cone with her good leg. When this proved ineffective, she let out a mournful whine.

“I know,” Poe murmured, inching closer. He had gathered up most of the spilled food onto a paper plate, and offered it out to her.

B.B. ignored him, and sat up to give a frustrated howl.

“Shh-shh, the neighbors are going to hear you, Bee,” Poe whispered, reaching out to slide the paper plate towards her. B.B. howled and howled.

Poe got up to fetch Jess. While he was in the kitchen, the howling stopped. Poe peered around the doorframe again, and saw her devouring the food. When she caught him watching, she growled.

“I’m sorry,” Poe whispered, feeling gutted. He was starting to doubt his plan already. They lived in a building full of mostly young, cagey, recently ex-military personnel. Noise complaints were taken dead seriously, and if Bee couldn’t be quiet they were going to get caught. Poe had followed a wild impulse and tried to impress a cute guy, and now he was knee-deep in trouble with a dog that hated him.

“All that barking’s not going to fly,” Jess said from the kitchen.

Poe sighed. “I know.”

As Poe changed for bed that night, he saw the note with Finn’s number still sitting on the nightstand. Maybe he shouldn’t call after all.

He lay awake, examining the ceiling for longer than usual. A thud and a splash coming from the kitchen made him cringe.

As he fumbled with the covers and turned his phone on flashlight mode, Poe heard the sound of hurried paw-steps echoing through the hallway again.

He got up to see that Bee had evidently gotten the edge of her cone under the lip of the water bowl and flipped it over, spilling water everywhere and startling herself again. As Poe entered the living room, squinting his eyes, the dog raced past him.

Around and around she paced, pausing periodically to sit down and scratch at the cone with her back paw before launching off again.

“Bee,” Poe sat down in the middle of the living room rug and reached out a hand towards her the next time she passed, but B.B. swerved and quickened her pace.

Poe’s father had kept rabbits when he was growing up, and when they were scared he just wrangled them with a towel and held them tightly so they felt secure. In hindsight, he probably should have taken some time to think about whether that strategy would work on dogs before scooping her up around the middle the next time she hobbled past.

“Hey, hey, hey,” said Poe, holding on tight. “It’s alright.” He tried to stroke her slowly the way Finn had done, making soothing sounds.

B.B. wasn’t having it. She began to bark, high-pitched and panicky, and wriggled out of Poe’s arms.

“Shh!” he hissed as he let her go. “Look, I know you hate me, and you can’t understand this, but we’re trying to keep you safe. You’re going to ruin everything if you can’t stop—agh!”

B.B. interrupted him and howled again.

After one final attempt to get her front paws up behind the cone and push it off, B.B. hung her head resumed wandering through the apartment. She finally seemed to accept that the cone wasn’t coming off. Poe swallowed hard. This was somehow worse than her frantic dash through the house – now she was just pacing, restless but defeated.

"Yeah," Poe agreed. They made a good pair, both sleepless and miserable.

Poe laid down on his back on the rug. He didn’t want to go back to bed knowing that the dog was still out here, pacing despondently.

Poe wasn't sure how long he lay there, listening to the sound of claws on linoleum. Finally he felt something wet nudge at his hand.

Bee had flopped herself down next to him, looking utterly exhausted. His hand was close enough to brush against her nose. One tiny movement, and he would be able to stroke her ears.

He craned his neck up a little bit and gave it a try. Just one little ear rub. B.B. looked him dead in the eye, but allowed it.

Sleeping on the floor definitely hadn't been one of Poe's better ideas. He hurt all over when he awoke to the sound of Jess microwaving oatmeal in the kitchen. Sometime during the night, Bee had snuggled closer and rested her head on his arm. A smile crept across Poe’s face.


	3. Chapter 3

“Finn, your phone!” Rey called from the couch.

Finn hurried to the living room and grabbed it, heart beating in his throat. It was an unknown number, which could mean anything, but he dared to hope—

“Hello?”

“Hey, Finn, it’s Poe.”

“Hey.” He swallowed the sudden rush of adrenaline and asked, “How’s it going with B.B.?”

“Better,” Poe laughed nervously. “She had a rough time adjusting to the Cone of Shame. But this morning we gave her the pills in a spoonful of peanut butter, and that was apparently a hit.”

Finn laughed.

“So, actually though, it’s not her I’m worried about, it’s our landlord. Bee’s been very, um, vocal, and I’m really concerned that our neighbors are not going to…tolerate that.” Poe paused as if there were more to the story that he wasn’t sharing. “I really want to make this work, is there anything you’d recommend to encourage her not to bark inside?”

Finn let out a shaky breath. This was a business call. That was fine. He tried to convince himself he wasn’t disappointed. That he hadn’t been hoping that Poe would call just to talk, or maybe want to hang out.

“Sure,” he said. “The best thing for reactive barking is to associate the scary thing with food. Like, expose her to whatever triggers it over and over and give treats for calm behavior. Also, if you can teach her to bark on command, you can teach her the ‘quiet’ command too.”

“Okay, how does that work? Like, the first-time-dog-guardian explanation, please.”

Unbidden, the image of Poe’s sly little smirk rose to Finn’s mind. “I know some good resources, I can text you the links.”

“That’d be great.” Poe paused like he was about to say more, but he hesitated. “Yeah, I’ll do some reading online.” Another pause. “But I was wondering if maybe you could show me what to do sometime?”

Finn exhaled. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Do you want to meet at the park?”

“Sure,”

They agreed on the time and place, and Finn hung up feeling confused but hopeful.

“Are you going on a date?” Rey asked immediately, sitting up and shifting the cat on her lap. Even Magneto pricked his ears up as if eager to hear the gossip.

“No!” he said. “Well, we’ll see.”

The roads and sidewalks were cleared of snow, and the wind wasn’t too bitter today. It was a moderately long walk from Finn’s apartment to the only park in town, so he left early, but not before texting Rose that he was going on a Maybe Sort-Of Date.

Rose sent back a string of emojis that made him regret revealing anything to his friends. Oh, this had better go well.

Poe pulled up in a beat-up gray Camero that looked sorely in need of a paint job. He waved when he saw Finn waiting for him on a picnic table, and walked around the back of the car to get the corgi out of the backseat. Finn tried not to notice how perfectly his dark-wash jeans fit him.

Poe greeted him with a “Hey, buddy!” as B.B. trotted ahead, tugging at the leash a bit to get to the bench where Finn sat.

The park was teeming with joggers and dogwalkers and kids sliding around on the outdoor ice rink. Behind the little shed selling hot cocoa and snacks there was a fenced-in area where they could let Bee off the leash. They walked together in that direction.

They chatted a bit about the dog before Finn worked up the nerve to ask, “So what do you do, Poe?"

"Um, right now I'm working over at the library in Sheldon," he said. "Just shelving books and helping people with research. It's a little boring, but sometimes the quiet is nice."

"That does sound nice."

"How long have you been at Sheldon Vet?"

Finn laughed a bit nervously. "Only since fall semester. I'm interning there until I graduate. I'm hoping Maz can get me a real job there once I get licensed."

Poe raised his eyebrows. "Oh damn, you're still in school then?"

"Sort of. I only have two classes left after the holidays, plus the clinical hours. I'm getting those from working with Maz, and volunteering at this thoroughbred rescue."

"You ride?"

"God, no." Finn looked horrified by the prospect, which made Poe chuckle.

Bee was moving around much more confidently today, having finally gotten the hang of the cone. She finished sniffing every surface of the picnic table and came to settle by Poe's feet in the frozen dirt.

Poe reached down and patted her on the head awkwardly.

"You've really never had experience with dogs before?"

Poe shook his head. "I was a Navy brat, my mom always said that pets were too much hassle since we had to move around so much. My dad had rabbits, but they weren’t really pets."

Finn nodded, absorbing this information. He noticed that the military jacket Poe wore said 'Bey' across the breast pocket.

"My parents weren't big on pets either," Finn said. "My first foster parents, that is. As you might imagine, growing up in Maz's house was essentially like living in a zoo. She took me in when I was twelve."

He winced, wishing he had kept that to himself. You were supposed to at least save the tragic backstory until the second date, right?

Poe didn't seem put-off, though. Finn changed the subject.

"So let’s see what B.B. can do, yeah?" Finn pulled a bag of treats out of his pocket and placed them in Poe's hands. "Present for you. Let's find out if she knows any basic obedience."

Finn didn’t expect B.B. to come to her name, seeing as she’d only had it for a few days. She seemed to grasp the meaning of 'sit', though, and she picked up 'down' with only a little prompting, suggesting to Finn that she'd at least had some sort of training.

He explained the basic principles to Poe, then two of them worked on 'speak' together while Finn offered pointers. From there, 'quiet' was simple enough, and mostly involved rewarding her when she settled down after 'speaking'.

"It's going to take a little while, Poe. I don't know if this will help your neighbor situation in the short-term," Finn admitted.

“That’s alright,” said Poe with a nervous laugh.

When Bee started getting bored, Poe let her off the leash to explore the fenced in area.

Poe's phone buzzed, Jess's number lighting up on the screen.

"Hey, where the fuck are you?" she asked.

"The park?"

"You didn't tell me you were going to take the car, I need to get to work, Poe."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah."

"We'll be there in 15. Sorry."

Jess hmmphed as she hung up.

“Do you have to get home?”

Poe nodded. “Unfortunately.” They gathered up their things and walked back to the parking lot. Finn turned towards the main entrance to begin his walk home. "Hey, you live anywhere near Yavin Ave? I could give you a ride." Poe suggested.

Finn nodded. "I'm a couple blocks away." He smiled. "I'll take you up on that."

Jess was waiting on the sidewalk when Poe pulled up.

"Finally," she huffed, then she saw Finn. "Oh!" She gave Poe a sideways look.

"Finn, meet Jess," Poe said, returning Jess's smirk with a warning glare. "We live together."

"Oh," said Finn a little too quietly, like the wind had been knocked out of him. They both got out of the car, and Poe walked around to the backseat and woke up B.B. who had managed to fall asleep during the 5-minute drive.

Finn shook Jess's hand. "So you two are, um..."

"We're both extremely gay." Jess informed him cheerfully.

Poe made an indignant noise, wondering if it were possible to astral project into a different dimension from sheer embarrassment.

Finn laughed, but Poe saved him from having to decide how to respond by blurting out, "Yes, and one of us struggles with how to converse like a human being. Finn, thank you so much for the help. I'll keep practicing with Bee until she gets the hang of it."

"Anytime," Finn smiled.

Jess punched Poe in the shoulder before climbing into the driver's seat. "Nice to finally meet you, Finn, hate to run but unfortunately this heathen has already made me late."

Once she had driven out of sight, Poe met Finn's eyes again.

B.B. sat down between them, giving Finn an excuse to lean down to scratch her head.

"Hey Poe, did you want to maybe, um,"

"Coffee?" Poe suggested.

"Sounds fantastic."

“If we leave the dog here, we can take my bike.”

“You have a…you have a motorcycle,” Finn said, as if he couldn’t quite believe that this was how his day was going. But he hadn’t said no.

“It’s totally safe,” Poe insisted.

Finn was not sure of the extent to which he believed that.

...

"You're a mystery, Bee," Poe mumbled when he returned after coffee with Finn and the dog was waiting at the door to greet him. Apparently when she wasn't in pain or scared out of her mind, she was the world's worst attention hog.

Bee followed him to his room and jumped up on the bed after he flopped himself down.

"I don't think I've ever gone out with a guy like Finn before," Poe told her. "I don't think I ever learned how. Jacen was the only gay guy I knew in school, and we definitely never...strolled through the park and talked about our lives, you know, we mostly just cut band practice and made out in the percussion closet."

Bee acknowledged this confession by rolling onto her side, exposing her belly for rubs.

Poe obliged, sighing.

Jess got home late from a midday shift at the auto shop.

"Nice catch, Dameron," she smirked. “He seemed like a sweetheart.” She hung up her oil-stained coat.

"Shut up, watch this," Poe snapped. He whistled to Bee.

Poe took something from the bag that was resting on the armchair. The dog heard the wrapper and jumped to her feet, barking excitedly.

"B.B., quiet," Poe said, holding the treat out in front of him. Bee continued to yap and hop from paw to paw at his feet. "Quiet!"

"Fuck's sake, Poe, give it to her and shut her up," Jess hissed.

Poe dropped the treat and B.B. fell silent as she licked it up, then sniffed the floor around it thoroughly. "Well, we're working on it."

…

Poe had to admit, things were going well with Finn. They met up again the following week, at a different café, and Poe was surprised by the feeling that he wanted to learn everything about Finn. He wanted to know what his favorite ice cream was, and what TV show he liked to rewatch when he was sad.

They hadn’t made any more plans yet, but they were texting a lot, which Poe thought was a good sign.

[Good morning!]

Finn’s text made Poe grin as poured water in the coffee pot, Bee nipping at his heels.

He fed the dog before responding. [Morning!]

[You’re at the farm today, right?]

[Yup, we’re giving everybody worming medication. Also there’s two new horses, and one might be pregnant]

Bee had already wolfed down her food and trotted up to the stove to wait. She knew the routine already, and she loved taking her medicine—that is, she loved the peanut butter that came with it.

[Sounds like a busy day]

[Want to get a drink later? I’m going to need it after this.]

Poe grinned to himself. [Oh god yes]

[Working late?]

[Probably not] The library closed in the middle of the afternoon on weekdays. While he was inevitably bored at the reference desk, Poe planned to make up a flyer with Bee’s picture to put in the window.

[Tully’s at 8 then?]

[I’ll be there!]

Work was slow, as it often was. His job was primarily shelving books and doing computer maintenance, as he hadn’t actually gone to school for library science, but he liked to talk to the various regulars and the students and scholars that came by about their research projects. Today, though, Poe was preoccupied.

After his shift, Poe got to the restaurant early and sat down in a corner booth next to the window, which was lit up in snowflake fairy lights from the recent holiday. A little bit romantic, he thought.

Finn showed up at 8 o’clock sharp, looking as though he’d hurried there.

“Hey, sorry,” he panted.

“How dare you,” said Poe wryly. “No. Seriously? You aren’t even technically late.”

“Today was a long one. I came straight here.”

“Did you at least eat dinner? Geez, Finn, we could have gone someplace that sells real food.”

“No, this is fine,” Finn said, sitting down opposite him. “I love their mozzarella sticks.”

Poe grinned. “Me too!”

After a moment, Finn ran a hand through his close-cropped, curly hair and sighed, “Thank god this is just for one semester. After this, I’m treating dogs and cats only. Maybe the occasional ferret, but that’s pushing it.”

“Not trying to become an equine vet?” Poe laughed.

Finn visibly shuddered. “No thank you. The Ticos take in injured or retired racehorses—and by retired, I mean six years old at the very most. They’re all high-strung, rambunctious babies who wanna go 100 miles an hour at all times, and honestly it’s a nightmare. But it’s nearby, and I don’t drive.”

Poe chuckled through Finn’s description of baby thoroughbreds. “Was that one you mentioned pregnant?”

“Very,” Finn nodded. “We think she’s almost due, and it’s a terrible time of year for that. Whoever owned her before must have been an idiot.”

Poe didn’t really know anything about breeding horses, but he nodded.

The server came back around and they placed their order. “So I guess now we do the getting-to-know-you thing, right?” said Poe, hoping it didn’t come off as awkward as he felt. “I know you’re almost out done with veterinary school. Where’d you go to undergrad?”

“Right here at SCC. I wanted to stay close to home. What about you?”

“Air Force Academy in Colorado. Studied computer science.”

Finn noticed that Poe was wearing the same jacket as the day in the park, the one with ‘BEY’ embroidered across the breast pocket. “That’s neat, are you still in the service?”

“No.”

Poe didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it, so Finn moved on.

“I’ve never been to Colorado,” he offered. “Or anywhere off the east coast, really.”

“Really?” Poe said. Their food and beers arrived. “I had to move basically every couple years growing up because of my mom’s job. We lived in San Diego, Texas, Washington D.C….”

“Sounds fascinating!”

“It wasn’t really,” Poe shrugged.

“You didn’t like to travel?”

“I did,” Poe admitted. “Driving through the Midwest is the worst, though. You can go hours without seeing any buildings or other cars. But my mom loved it. She would always come up with weird, quirky attractions to stop at along the way, and the first few weeks of every assignment she would drag us around to play tourist in the new city. Couldn’t get enough of it.”

“I have a friend like that, Rey. She loves to drag me on road trips to see the world’s largest tower of pumpkins or whatever the hell else is vaguely interesting in the middle of New Hampshire.”

“I think I’d get over my hatred of road trips if I got to take them with you,” said Poe. “Even if you made me feign amusement with the world’s largest tower of pumpkins.”

“We’ll go sometime. It’s in Keene.”

“Please don’t make me do that.”

The mozzarella sticks disappeared faster than anticipated, and Poe ordered another basket and two more drinks. Finn was still laughing.

“What’s your favorite place you’ve lived?”

Poe cocked his head as he thought about it. “Fairborn, Ohio,” he decided. “I served on the base there; that was the first time I really got out on my own. It’s where I met Jess, actually.” _And Wex and L’ulo, and Leia._ “The first two years or so were…really great.”

Which seemed to imply that after those two years, things were less great. Finn wasn’t sure whether to ask, especially because Poe was getting misty-eyed.

He looked at his beer, which was half empty. “I shouldn’t drink and talk about this, apparently,” he said thickly with a self-deprecating little chuckle.

“Okay, we’ll talk about something else,” said Finn quickly.

“No,” Poe interrupted him. “Buddy, you should probably know what you’re getting into here. It was a few weeks after I found out that my dad died—I didn’t even know that he’d been sick until I got the call. I guess it was a pretty sudden thing.” Poe drew in a long breath.

“Poe, I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t, I—they discharged me for having a psychotic break, and I’m still sort of dealing with the fallout from that, mentally. I’m getting help and everything, don’t worry. I just know it’s a lot of baggage, probably not what you’re looking for in a relationship.”

“How long ago did that happen?” Finn asked softly.

“Early this year.”

Finn nodded. “You didn’t have to share that with me, but I’m glad you did,” he said after a pause. “I still want to keep getting to know you—if want this to continue too.”

“Yeah, I do too,” said Poe. He was trying to regain his composure. “You’re a good man, Finn.”

The server brought their check, and he snatched it before Poe could finish drying his eyes.

“What? No Finn, don’t—”

“Too late,” said Finn. “You can get it next time.”

 _Next time_. Poe smiled. They split a cab home, and when they stopped in front of Poe’s building, Finn leaned across the seat and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

 

**Chapter 4**

Poe wasn’t entirely sure how it happened. After two weeks, they were meant to turn B.B. over to the SPCA if an owner didn’t come forward. No one had. He expected Dr. Kanata to say something. He expected _Jess_ to say something.

And yet somehow, B.B. had already imbedded herself as a part of their world. She got better at following Poe’s commands (although ‘quiet’ was still her least favorite), and Poe and Jess got better at being sneaky. When they let B.B. outside, Jess would scout out the path to the stairwell that led to the parking lot, then Poe would bring her down the stairs when the coast was clear.

Poe was surprised how quickly he got used to having a warm heap of fur on the foot of his bed every night—and an insistent, hungry pup waking him up every morning. It sort of made it difficult to take unplanned depression naps until he absolutely had to get up for work, and he felt better for it. Jess, for her part, feigned indifference, but Poe was fond of pointing out that her Instagram was now 90% videos of Bee trying to lap up dollops of peanut butter that Jess smeared on the top of her nose.

He had gone out with Finn twice more since that night at the bar. It was unlike anything Poe had ever experienced. Grown-up dating was weird, and it made him feel like a silly teenager again, but Finn was kind, and funny, not to mention devastatingly handsome.

Jess entered the living room and saw him looking at his phone.

“Texting your man?” she asked in an overly-sappy tone.

He wasn’t, in fact. “How’s Karé?” Poe retaliated. Jess gave him a knowing wink. Poe was pretty sure he’d heard Karé leaving the apartment that morning.

“They’re well, thank you for asking,” she said primly.

“Can we stop at the drugstore on the way home from group?” he asked.

Jess stopped what she was doing. “Poe, there’s no support group today. Because of the holiday, remember?”

Poe blinked.

“It’s New Year’s Eve, dude.”

“Oh.”

“I take it you don’t have any plans, then,” she snorted. “I’m going to the bonfire at Karé’s place if you want to come.”

Poe made a noncommittal noise.

“I’m 100% sure Karé won’t mind if you invite your boy toy too. Have you ever had a New Year’s kiss?” she said, returning to her sickly-sweet teasing voice.

“You’re not going to convince me by calling him that,” Poe grumbled. “I’m just tired. Last night was kind of a bad night.”

He’d woken up to B.B. licking his face. His heart had been racing, but he couldn’t remember what he’d dreamed about.

“Well I’m not waiting up,” she said. “And you can’t spend New Year’s sitting in the house alone.”

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

…

Finn received the invitation by text, and groaned.

[I’d love to,] he replied, allowing himself another frustrated groan. [I have to help Rose. The new mare is showing signs of labor, and I’m supposed to watch her tonight]

Paige and Rose had a family party to attend, and Finn had already promised them he would stay at the barn on foal watch from six to midnight. He felt awful. He didn’t want Poe to think he was declining because he didn’t want to go.

[It really does sound fun] he typed. [Maybe if the foal comes in the next few hours, before Rose has to leave.]

[Alright, good luck then. Hope it goes okay.]

[Thanks, me too. Sorry]

Finn put his phone down on the kitchen island and went back to packing his bag.

Rey waltzed through the kitchen and snatched a handful of the goldfish crackers he was packing in Tupperware for the barn.

“Hey,”

“Wasn’t me,” she said indignantly with a mouthful of goldfish.

Almost a six months ago, on Rey’s eighteenth birthday, she had shown up at Finn’s door with tears in her eyes and the duffel bag that was all she could call her own slung over her shoulder. They had known each other for years in foster care, but when Finn was adopted by the Kanatas and moved to another town, they had lost touch.

Finn was lucky, he supposed. For every genuine, kind soul like Maz in the system, there were probably a dozen Unkar Plutts. Rey had been shuffled around almost constantly, to homes ranging from overcrowded and overwhelmed to outright abusive, until at 17 she’d finally wound up with a widower who mostly just let her be. More of an adult roommate than a dad, but she could hardly complain. But then too soon, she’d aged out of the system.

“He didn’t kick me out,” she’d said over and over, wavering on Finn’s doorstep. “But he could’ve. It was time to go.” The problem being, Rey hadn’t had anywhere _to_ go. Except here.

But Finn was always happy for her company.

“Send me pictures of the baby!” Rey said, grinning.

“It might not be born tonight. But somebody needs to keep an eye on mom just in case. Will you feed the cats?”

“Of course.”

…

Poe hemmed and hawed and dragged his feet about it, but in the end he’d managed to take a shower and get dressed for Karé’s bonfire. He was secretly a little relieved that Finn couldn’t come, because Jess would’ve teased them ferociously, and he still wasn’t sure if Finn would take it personally.

“C’mon, it’ll be good for you,” Jess insisted, a common refrain when she was trying to persuade him to leave the house. It would’ve been annoying coming from anyone else, but Jess knew him, and knew when to push versus when to leave him in peace.

The bonfire was loud, and honestly it was too damn cold, but Poe tried to enjoy it. Karé lived in a big ranch house with several acres of farmland behind it. There were some guys setting off sparklers that they had smuggled across the state border out in the field. It was something Poe would’ve gotten a kick out of when he was in college, but right now it was giving him a headache.

He stuck close to Jess and chatted with some of her work friends, until she slammed her third shot of fireball down on the picnic table and ran off to join the people dancing on the frozen grass.

As the night wore on, the temperature plunged cruelly, but everybody else seemed too intoxicated to care. Poe didn’t feel like drinking, and his fingers were going numb from the cold.

He found Jess in the small crowd, grinding behind Karé, and grabbed her by the elbow.

“I’m not feeling this, Jess, I’m going home. Can I have the keys?”

“What?” Jess asked with a comically wide smile.

“I said I’m leaving!” he repeated, a little louder. “Car keys?”

She handed them over.

“You can text me later if you want me to pick you up.”

He figured Jess would probably end up staying the night, but even if she didn’t, she shouldn’t be driving. He made his way across the field to where they’d parked.

He was shivering involuntarily as he turned the ignition, waiting for the ancient sedan’s little heater to boot up. He thought about Finn, sitting up all night with a pregnant mare. At least they were both having a crappy New Year’s Eve.

Poe’s mood started to improve as he drove, and he was struck by an impulsive idea. As he turned off of the highway, he pulled into a 24-hour drive-thru and ordered two hot cocoas. He took the long way home to drive past the Tico’s farm, where he saw a single light on at the very end of the barn.

At the end of the aisle of stalls, he found Finn sitting against a wall on a tack box.

“Surprise,” he said, holding out the hot chocolates.

“Poe?”

“That’s me. I got one peppermint chocolate and one regular, I didn’t know what you liked so take your pick.”

“I thought you were going to a party?”

“It wasn’t that great. I wondered if you wanted company. We could at least watch the ball drop on my phone.”

Finn chose the peppermint hot chocolate. “That’s so nice of you.”

“You staying warm in here?”

“As well as I can,” he said, gesturing to the space heater on the ground. Poe leaned over the stall door, and the horse within snorted at him and paced a circle around her stall.

“So far so good?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. Most mares don’t need any human help anyways, but when things do go wrong, they tend to go very wrong. So it’s just a lot of waiting around.”

Poe sipped his drink and sat down on a hay bale.

“So was the party really that horrible?”

“No. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I used to love that kind of thing. But it was just loud, and crowded, and I actually kind of hated it.”

He dragged the toe of his shoe through the dust on the ground, avoiding Finn’s gaze.

“Well, there are worse ways to ring in the new year, I guess,” Finn offered.

Poe allowed himself to lean his shoulder into Finn’s, testing their personal space a little bit. Finn put an arm at his back, and it felt really nice, actually. He began to realize how exhausted he was.

They forgot about trying to stream the ceremony from Times Square or count down. Finn’s phone lit up with a notification, and the clock read 12:02.

“Poe, look!”

Half a smile stole across Poe’s face as he sat up a little bit. “Happy New Year, buddy,”

He was staring at Finn’s lips, and a second later they were kissing his, and Poe kissed back, soft and tentative. It was over in a heartbeat.

Maybe it was his sleep-deprived brain, but Poe leaned in a little further and with the slow, elated discovery that Finn wanted this as badly as he did, Poe kissed him again, a little bit bolder.

Sitting against the wooden planks of the stall was awkward. When they stopped for breath, Finn glanced at the stack of hay bales in the north corner of the barn, and Poe had the same thought. They climbed up on the section that was only one bale high.

Poe felt a bit foolish, like some kind of immodest stable boy in a Victorian novel, and they hay was honestly kind of scratchy but he soon forgot to worry about it. Finn’s kiss was deep and sweet, and tasted like peppermint, and Poe’s fingers lightly brushed Finn’s cheek. Finn’s hands came to rest at Poe’s waist.

Finn had to break it off when an unavoidable giggle crept up his throat.

“What’s funny?” Poe asked, gasping for breath.

Finn shook his head and lied down. Poe snuggled up next to him. He felt so completely safe there. Finn just held him for a while.

They couldn’t stay for too long. Poe sat up and tried to comb some of the straw out of his hair with his fingers.

They heard a sound from across the aisle, and suddenly remembered themselves. Finn grabbed his kit and crossed the barn again, but with his hand on the stall door he stopped in surprise. A tiny foal, bay with a white stripe like her mother’s, stared up at him. She was already on her feet, albeit wobbly, and her mother was grooming her wet, downy fur. Both were healthy and sound, thank god.

He sent Rose a text that all was well, and made Poe swear that if anyone asked, they had been paying attention.

 

 

_End of Part I_

**Author's Note:**

> Here is Part I in all it's glory! I am going to continue playing in this 'verse over the summer, and I foresee there being 3 or 4 parts in total. Thank you for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[fanmix] Puppy Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18688399) by [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)
  * [[fanmix] the slow, elated discovery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18683914) by [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)
  * [[art] Baby, this rain changes everything](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18683692) by [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)




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